Final stop - or will the European Tour continue?

To some like Sir Alex Ferguson and Harry Redknapp, the Europa League doesn't matter.

Fergie was quite derogatory in stating that Manchester United's 'penalty' for Champions League failure was their shunting to the knockout stage of the competition.

Spurs have been doing their best to finish third in their group, it appears.

There are probably some people following Blues who think the Europa League has been a hindrance and secondary in importance.

Not me.

One - Blues earned the right to play in Europe by actually winning a trophy.

Two - having not been on that stage for 50 years, you don't pass it up.

Three - the competition so far has been exciting, enjoyable and memorable - and not got in the way of the Championship campaign.

On Thursday it could all come to an end.

Blues have to beat whipping boys NK Maribor at St Andrew's and hope that SC Braga defeat Club Brugge in Belgium.

The odds are against Blues but the way things have gone so far Group H has been the most unpredictable and thrown up surprise after surprise - one more twist in the tale, perhaps?

Maribor have got diddly squat to play for. Blues should see them off.

Braga should want to finish top of the standings so they avoid a seed/Champions League cast-off in the last 32, which starts in February.

But Brugge, under new coach Christoph Daum, have tightened up defensively in the league and Carl Hoefkens, their captain and leader, is fit again.

That said, Brugge have been like a sieve in Europe and their remarkable comeback from 3-0 down in Maribor with 16 minutes left to win 4-3 pretty much sums them up.

That result was the real killer from the penultimate round of group fixtures.

Blues 1-0 defeat in Braga would not have mattered so much had Maribor hung on. It would then have been in Blues hands on Thursday.

The irony of the loss, and an unfortunate one it was too, in Portugal was that Chris Hughton selected his strongest side, barring Stephen Carr (who is as fond of Europe as David Cameron right now) and Marlon King, who was on the bench.

Blues began as well as they have done in any game but didn't capitalise in the opening 15 minutes, when Nikola Zigic had his penalty saved.

Then, in the second-half, they petered out. Usually they stage a rousing finish in the Europa League but this time, after a flukey goal that went in off Curtis Davies - who was playing his first group match, incidentally - Blues were uninspiring and seemed flat.

Should Blues go out of the competition on Thursday it should not be considered a failure. Their involvement in the Europa League, the way they have played, the comebacks, the invasion of Brugge, should be celebrated.

The novelty of Europa League football has been stimulating.

And as a club, on and off the field, Blues have added something fresh and uplifting to the competition; I doubt Manchester United will do that.